National Espresso Day: Coffee the caffeinated beverage of choice for Canadians

Whether it’s a cup to go from a local cafe or java that’s been brewed at home, a recent report shows that coffee still reigns supreme in Canada.

SilverChef – a provider of new and used commercial kitchen equipment and funding – and Angus Reid partnered up to produce the report Coffee In Canada: An Unfiltered Look, which was released ahead of National Espresso Day on Nov. 23.

The report surveyed 1,010 Canadians online from Sept. 13 to 18. The respondents drink coffee at least once a moth and are members of the Angus Reid Forum.

It shows that drip coffee is the coffee of choice for Canadians, with 69 per cent of the respondents saying that is what they prefer. Canadians drink an average of 2.3 cups of coffee per day.

But the type of coffee and quantity consumed varies from province to province, with Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba drinking the most coffee and Ontario drinking the least.

British Columbians are the biggest drip coffee and iced coffee drinkers in Canada, consuming the average of 2.3 cups per day.

Most coffee drinkers in Canada buy their beans or grounds at the supermarket but in the last year, one in three have changed their coffee purchase behaviour. Eighteen per cent now brew more coffee at home, 10 per cent changed the coffee they brew at home, nine per cent visit different coffee shops and eight per cent visit more coffee shops.

Regardless of where or how Canadians get their caffeine fix, the report shows quality is key to consumers followed closely by price. These two factors have become more important to one-quarter of consumers than they were one year ago.

The majority of Canadians consume their cup of joe with environmental impacts in mind as well but millennials are most likely to do so when selecting a to-go cup, the origin of their coffee bean or which milk they use in their coffee.

With more than three-quarters of Canadians preferring coffee over tea, it’s clear the jitter-inducing bean juice is the go-to caffeinated drink for consumers.